ADB helps São Tomé and Príncipe improve agriculture and fisheries

A program funded by the African Development Bank (ADB) has enabled a significant modernisation of agriculture and fisheries in São Tomé and Príncipe, the bank said in a document published on its website. The document on four years of implementation of the Recovery Programme of Infrastructure to Support Food Security (PRIASA), 2012-2016, said roads had been rebuilt and irrigation channels built for farmland, along with fish storage centres and various other structures and training sessions for farmers, fishermen and technical personnel. The rural sector, which employs about 60 percent of the workforce, was the main target of the agreement signed in 2013 between the ADB and the São Tomé government, which included provision of US$156 million by 2018, distributed to agriculture and fisheries (45 percent), services (37 percent) and social support (18 percent).